The Two Riders
by RedWolf23
Summary: Galbatorix never escaped the icy planes north of Alagaesia. The golden age of the Riders continued, and 100 years after Galbatorix's death, the orphaned sons of a Rider become Riders themselves. HIATUS until after I've read book four.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything originally created by C. Paolini. This is fanfiction, it was written for pleasure, not profit.

A young boy of ten was sitting in the sunlight, looking skyward. He was sitting in a wagon, but the wagon had no horse. Instead, the wagon's wheels were being propelled by magic. Magic baffled the boy, but the man next to him, _no_, the elf next to him had mumbled a few words, and off the wagon had went. The weather today didn't reflect the boy's attitude at all, it was far too sunny out while the boy was quite downtrodden. _"I never thought I could be both so bored and so anxious at the same time."_ The boy reflected.

The boy's name was Eragon. Eragon was feeling both eager and apprehensive, both bold and afraid. Here he was, sitting next to an elf in this wagon, just passing Therinsford, and heading to his destiny. He had lived in a small town in the northern-most part of the Alliance of Alagaesia his entire life. He lived on the outskirts of Carvahall with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran his entire life. When he was five though, his aunt Marian had died of a sickness, and three years ago, his brother Murtagh had left on a wagon just like the one he was sitting in. "_I may be leaving home… but at least I'll finally see Murtagh again. And I'll be leaving behind the stares."_

While Eragon was disappointed with leaving Roran and Garrow, the rest of the town was rather awkward with him. He was the son a Dragon Rider after all, but at the same time, people still saw him as a bastard. His lineage had little weight without his parents married in the traditional human way. And there were no angry parents to fear, Morzan had died at the hands of the infamous Shade Durza, before Eragon was even born. Selena died shortly after in childbirth with Eragon. Orphaned and alone, the rare offspring of a Dragon Rider, Murtagh and Eragon, were sent to live with their closest relatives.

After years of camaraderie with Roran and Murtagh, Eragon's heart went cold at Murtagh's departure. The Riders had maintained their Era of Peace for centuries, but they still needed recruits, and the children of Riders, though rare, almost always became Riders themselves. And so Murtagh left. He was apprehensive as well, as any ten year old would be at the thought of leaving home and joining an ancient order of peacekeepers and warriors, but Murtagh wanted his own legacy.

A shadow of doubt clouded Eragon's hope of seeing his brother again. _What if I'm not capable? What if no dragon chooses me? What if I die?_ These thoughts tormented Eragon, and had been tormenting him ever since Murtagh left. He would find out soon, though, as Therinsford was passing from view and Utgard, a Rider Stronghold, came into sight.

With a startle, Eragon hopped in his seat at the sound of a deep grumble. _"Was that the sound of a dragon?"_ Eragon pondered, and the elf next to him chuckled.

"Yes child, that was a dragon." He stated in a rich, regal voice. The elf's movements were fluid and powerful, almost otherworldly.

"Sir," Eragon began, "What may I call you?"

"Faolin. I hail from Ellesmera, and I am normally a guard for my King and Queen's ambassadors, but I was in the area and volunteered to escort you to Utgard." Faolin answered in his rich voice.

Eragon quieted again, but was still unsure of himself. His doubt was fueled again by things like his race; after all, this elf he was next to was surely a far better soldier than he was. How could he even begin to compete with other Riders at such a young age?

As the wagon slowed, however, Eragon knocked himself out of his stupor and replaced his worry with confidence. He would be better off optimistic; at the very least, he would go home and live with Roran and Garrow again. Either a dragon egg would choose him, or it wouldn't choose him.

As the wagon came completely to a stop, Eragon climbed confidently out of the wagon. He held his head high for a second as Faolin followed him off the wagon, but he quickly lost his steady disposition as a great booming filled the air. Over the top of the jagged peak and tower, a massive brown dragon came into view. The dragon was larger than some buildings, and atop the regal beast sat a small figure, completely dwarfed by its gargantuan mount.

The dragon dove toward the two on the ground and gracefully landed at the foot of the mountain. The Rider dismounted and walked toward Eragon and Faolin. _"He's so tall! He's at least six and a three quarters feet! And his dragon is so massive!"_ Eragon thought with wonder. _"Is this what a true Rider looks like?"_ Eragon was awed with the hero before him. He wore light armor, and a great long sword with a brown diamond fixed into the pommel was sheathed at his hip.

"Greetings, Eragon. I'm glad you came." The Rider spoke with power in his voice. "My name is Irnstad, and this is Galzra." He motioned to the dragon towering behind him. "The Riders currently have four dragon eggs given to us by the dragons. We usually only have two or three, but two of these eggs have been waiting for their Riders for over a hundred years." He was holding a short, wide chest graciously in his strong arms. He laid it on the ground before Eragon and opened it.

Inside were four very large eggs, each appearing as if a large gemstone with white veins running through them. Various sparkling colors met Eragon's eyes: one, a deep bronze; one a forest green jewel; another was a shade of brown similar to Galzra. The last was sapphire blue, a shade that Eragon lost himself in. He was almost transfixed when Irnstad spoke again.

"Don't touch any, but run your hand over them." Eragon did as he was commanded, and when he reached the sapphire egg again, he felt a kind of pulse from it, and a feeling of rightness. "Did you feel anything when you put your hand over one of the eggs?" Irnstad continued. Eragon nodded, and Irnstad smiled as he said, "Take off your glove and put your hand onto the egg you felt something from."

Eragon shakily pulled his glove off and laid his hand on the egg. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then the egg began to quiver. Then it cracked. The next thing Eragon knew, the egg had nearly split in half, and a dragon hatchling tumbled out. The glittering blue creature looked unsteady on it's new feet, but once it righted itself, it looked expectantly at Eragon. Eragon, slightly unsure of himself, reached out to touch the hatchling. His right hand barely grazed the dragon before his arm burst into a pain that seeped into the rest of his body. He fell down in his bout of agony, but the pain lasted barely a second, and Eragon was soon on his knees again. Through the last ghost of pain, he looked at the palm of the hand he had touched the dragon with and saw a silver mark that had not been there before. This mark was the mark of a Rider. He was a Rider. He looked to his dragon and smiled weakly.

The Two Riders

Eragon and Faolin were back in the wagon, except now their number had increased. With them was a small, blue dragon hatchling. After shortly returning to Carvahall to gather his belongings and say goodbye, the elf had taken him in his wagon again at twice the speed as before, shortly arriving in Daret for supplies. Irnstad had flown ahead to Ilirea, to inform the other Riders of Eragon's success. At the speed the wagon was going, they would be in Ilirea within two weeks. Until then, they would be limited to few rest stops.

Eragon was in a daze. So much had happened in the last few days. It all felt right, though. He was at peace with his dragon, the low, murmuring emotions in the back of his head. He now had a companion for life, one that reached deep into his soul, and he reached deep into its soul too. He had been born again.

A week passed, and Eragon had become very fond of Faolin. He was very kind and humorous, despite (to Eragon's surprise) being over a hundred years old. He was a talented warrior and magician, and came from a noble elfish family. He even described the basics of magic to Eragon when asked. Eragon listened raptly of the Ancient Language, to which everyone and everything had a name. Faolin conveniently left out that all Dragon Riders could perform magic also, as Riders didn't normally learn this until part-way through their training.

A few days before the end of their journey, Eragon received a major shock when he heard a voice inside his head. "_Eragon."_ It spoke, over and over. Upon realizing it was his hatchling talking to him, Eragon felt that much closer to the dragon discovering the telepathic link. Eragon was a bit confused as to why it kept saying his name, and after attempting to access his telepathic link, Eragon decided that the dragon finally needed a name.

"Faolin, how many dragon names do you know of?" Eragon questioned, shortly after they had reached the flat plains of land near Ilirea. The wagon traveled easily over the long grass and low hills of which the plains were composed.

"Traditionally," Faolin began, ever smiling, "The Rider's dragons have been named in the Ancient Language, ever since the first Rider, an elf also named Eragon, named his dragon Bid'Daum. Some male dragons I've met were Hirador, Fundor, Galzra, Briam, Ohen, Gretiem, Beroan, Roslarb, Shurikan, Vanilor, Eridor, Ingothol, Glaedr… of course, is your dragon male or female?"

Eragon blushed upon realizing that he didn't know. He felt a laugh through his connection with the dragon, and focused on mentally pestering the answer out of it. After a minute of mental struggle, Eragon finally got an answer.

"It's a girl." He said. The still unnamed female dragon let out another mental laugh at Eragon's expense.

"Ah." Faolin replied, "Then I suppose all of those names I gave you won't help. How about Jura?" Eragon felt dissatisfaction through his link and shook his head. "Miremel?" Again he shook his head. "Ophelia? Lenora?" Both denied. "Hmmm… Saphira?" At this, Eragon felt a mental tug, as if the word had aroused the hatchling's attention.

"Saphira." Eragon said, testing the name. The dragon responded positively, and gave a whoop, as if to distinctly say _yes._

"Saphira it is then." Eragon said as the wagon reached the top of a larger hill, bringing the great white walls of Ilirea into view.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own anything originally created by C. Paolini. This is fan fiction, it was written for pleasure, not profit.

Murtagh pulled back on his bowstring, past his nose, past his cheek, and finally past his ear. Holding it there, he concentrated on the small read circle in the middle of the target. His concentration shifted the moment he let go, and he cursed as the arrow struck up and to the right of the center. _"Thorn, do you have to yelp over our connection every time Ebrithil Glaedr knocks you down in aerial combat training?"_

"_Apologies, friend. But you have yet to experience somebody three times your size land on you and push you down while you are at the whims of the air."_ Thorn rumbled in return.

"_Noted. Has Ebrithil Glaedr told you anything of Ebrithil Oromis's whereabouts?"_

"_No, he prefers breathing fire at me. Don't tell me you'd rather be studying Dwarven mythology than practicing archery?"_

"_Archery becomes much more difficult when draconic shrieks sound off inside your head unexpectedly."_

"_I do not shriek! Birds shriek."_

"_You do have wings."_

"_Do birds eat other birds?"_ After another high roar inside Murtagh's head, Thorn indignantly thought, _"Stop distracting me! I'll be sore tonight because of you."_

Murtagh laughed at his partners antics and drew another arrow from his quiver. He pulled back on his bowstring, past his nose, past his cheek, and finally past his ear, and just when he was focused solely on the center mark, a serene cough came from behind him. Murtagh cursed when this arrow hit even more off-mark than the last.

Turning around, Murtagh's master, Oromis, cocked an eyebrow. "Murtagh, if you cannot concentrate on a target in an archery range, how will you fair in combat? And as I've said before, I do not approve of cursing, no matter how many you learned from the older Riders."

"Forgive me Ebrithil, I promise to improve. But if I might ask, where have you been for the last hour?"

"Irnstad and Garzla returned from Utgard. It seems we have a new Rider." Murtagh immediately perked up on hearing this.

"_It is about time now, isn't it? It has been three years since I left Carvahall. It must be him!"_ Murtagh was thinking excitedly now, he had to know. "Who is it, Ebrithil?"

"Ingothold and Vervada's egg hatched at last. Your brother, Eragon, should be arriving in less than two weeks."

Murtagh could jump for joy. Mirth shot through him and he eagerly said to Thorn, _"Thorn! Listen! My brother Eragon is coming! He's a Rider!"_ Rather than the hearty reply Murtagh was expecting, he received another discomposed mix between a roar and a squawk. _"Thanks for the enthusiasm, Thorn."_

"_I heard every word, I was busy avoiding another bruise. I hear everything you hear, but when you shout at me with your mind, I become very distracted. And I am very excited to meet your brother. I feel like I know him, yet I've only seen him in your memories. And I'll have a dragon my size around here. At the very least, I can finally take down a dragon smaller than me."_

"_You say you're excited, but I feel as if you're not looking at this in the same light I am."_

"_Can we be excited later? I don't want my wings singed again."_

"_I suppose. But I truly can't wait for Eragon to get here. Before you hatched, all I had was him and Roran."_

"Murtagh," Oromis interrupted, "You do know that when we have new Rider's around the same age, they learn together and share a teacher?" at Murtagh's happy nod, Oromis continued. "This is more than just the two of you learning together. The reason we do this is to encourage young Riders to work together and help each other improve. Because you are older and more experienced than Eragon, you are expected to help him improve and to look after him. Can you bear this responsibility?"

"I'll bear it gladly. Thank you, Master."

"Good. Before we continue our lesson on Dwarven religion, we shall go to the sparring court and duel with wooden practice swords. Come along."

Mentally groaning, Murtagh spoke to Thorn before following, saying, _"It appears you won't be the only one sore tonight, friend."_

-The Two Riders-

The bustling commerce of Ilirea was an entirely new concept for Eragon. His mother had gone back to Carvahall for his birth, and he hadn't been farther than Therinsford his entire life. Carvahall's population wasn't completely human, and while he'd met a few dwarves before, he had never seen so many as he now saw. Faolin was the first elf he ever met, and the more he saw, the more elegant the race seemed over all. The Broddring kingdom's palace stood high in the distance, and Eragon saw two dragons, one white, and one violet, swoop down into it.

The wagon pleasantly rolled through the wide city streets, heading to the most western portion of the city. The Rider's barracks were positioned there, it was also where new Riders got there elementary training under Rider elders. These barracks would be Eragon and Saphira's home until they moved to Vroengard, the Riders' island. It was where Murtagh had been living for the last three years…

"_Saphira, you don't think Murtagh has changed too much, have you? He's been away for three years. He could be completely different. How can I go back to being his brother?"_ Eragon had gotten in the habit of projecting all of his thoughts to Saphira, for even though she couldn't string together words into sentences, he always got some feeling or an emotion from the young dragon. Saphira flapped her wings and gave him a feeling a reassurance.

She was as large as a dog now, without her wing span, and even in her small size, she gave off a lethal look with her ivory spines and teeth. Her rapid growth surprised Eragon at first, but Faolin informed him that dragons' growth rate slows to a crawl after about a year. Of course, they continued growing their entire life, to the point where they would grow even larger than Garzla, the first dragon Eragon had seen. Eragon knew some wild dragons lived far up in the Spine, but he had never ventured that far into the mountain range.

Slowly, the street merchants and stores thinned, and after passing a small residential area, they arrived at Eragon's new home. The barracks stood high above the surrounding buildings, with the stone arches and windows clearly built with dragons in mind. While quite high, it didn't seem to take up as much ground area as it's size would make someone think. Eragon realized he didn't actually know how many Riders there were in Alagaesia. The order was centuries old, and Riders don't naturally die. While they owned the entire island of Vroengard, just how many of them were there? They got only a few, maybe three or four new Riders a decade. Would they really need a very large barracks?

Eragon stored the questions in the back of his mind for later, and the wagon stopped at its final destination. Eragon dutifully hopped out, followed by Saphira, and Faolin came around the front to say goodbye.

"The Riders should be coming for you now, young one. I must leave you here, as I have business to attend to in the human king's palace. Ah, there is an elder now." Eragon turned around to see another massive dragon jump from an elevated window. This dragon was a deep golden-bronze, with the beating of its wings making enough force for Eragon to _feel_ it down on the ground. When it descended closer, Eragon saw that it was about the size of Garzla, if not a little larger, and in the space behind some of its neck spines sat an elf with an air of age and wisdom about him.

The Elf Rider gracefully dismounted and greeted Faolin in some sort of meeting ritual that had Eragon lost, as they spoke an unfamiliar language and twisted their hands over their sternums. Once finished, Faolin introduced the new elf. "Eragon, these are the Rider Elders Oromis and Glaedr. Oromis-elda, Glaedr-elda, this is Rider Eragon and his partner Saphira."

"Hello Eragon and Saphira. Glaedr and I will be your tutors here for the next several years. It is good to meet you." Oromis said, shortly followed by the deep rumbled, _"Greetings, Rider and Dragon."_ From Glaedr.

Eragon choked out a "Hello!" and began to bow before them, but was interrupted by Oromis.

"No need to bow, Eragon. Time will be better spent training than bowing. Come; let me show you the barracks."

"Farewell Eragon. I'll see you again. Working with the ambassadors, I cross paths with the Riders quite often. Goodbye, Oromis-elda, Glaedr-elda." With this, Faolin departed on foot, leaving the wagon behind at the barracks. Glaedr also took off the ground, flying behind the barracks, and off into plains on the eastern side of the city with a ruby red dragon less than a third Glaedr's size trailing him.

"Follow me, both of you." Oromis said before striding off.

"Yes sir." Ergon said while hurrying after with Saphira bounding forward next to him.

"You and Saphira are to call Glaedr and me either Master or Ebrithil, the ancient language word for master." Oromis said while leading him through the barrack's wide and tall halls.

"Will I be learning the ancient language with you, Master?"

"Of the many things you will be learning during your stay here, the ancient language will be one of those things."

"How long will I be living here? How many other young Riders are living here?"

"Your training will take several years, you will be a young man before your training is nearing completion. As for other Riders in training, there are three others here currently. We pair young Riders together, and I've been teaching another student for a few years now. You will be learning with him."

"Who is it, Master?" Oromis began to laugh a bit, and Eragon quickly asked, "What's wrong, Master?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. I just had a nostalgic moment, you remind me of another curious Rider I once taught." He chuckled a bit more before composing himself and stopping at a door. "This is you and your peer's study. Allow me to introduce you to him." With that, Oromis opened the door.

-The Two Riders-

Murtagh was sitting in his study, analyzing a text on the Blood Oath celebration. Murtagh was as interested as he could be in the text. While he was a bit interested in attending in what, seven years? He was honestly a bit on edge. What with the addition of the other desk in the room since the news Eragon's upcoming arrival, and the trickles of adrenaline from Thorn's flight lesson, Murtagh could best be described as a boy waiting for school to get out. _"It figures. I'm reading again, and Thorn's flying through high altitudes."_ He thought before pushing his anticipation aside and concentrating on the text.

Murtagh's concentration was shortly broken again, however, when he heard a light noise outside the door. He looked up only to see the door open with three figures standing there. The tallest was his Master, Oromis. Behind him however, was…

"Eragon!" Murtagh shouted while quickly rising from his chair. Rushing over to his brother, Murtagh gripped him in a hug while Eragon stood shocked still for a moment before hugging back. "It has been three years! I've missed you!" he said after letting go of the hug. Looking down on his brother, he had well over a head on Eragon. "You haven't changed much I see."

"I've missed you too, Murtagh. I'm so happy, we're learning together!" Eragon said smiling and laughing.

"I know." Murtagh said, coming down from his excitement. He saw the hopping blue dragon that had hatched for his brother and asked, "So who's this, Eragon?"

"Oh, meet Saphira. I wouldn't be seeing you now if it wasn't for her." Eragon replied.

"Hello Saphira. That reminds me, I'll need to introduce the two of you to Thorn." Murtagh said. _"Thorn, they're here!"_

"_I know, I got a peek at them before I left with Ebrithil Glaedr."_

"_Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_I thought it would be nice to surprise you."_ Was Thorn's only response.

-The Two Riders-

Oromis watched the two brothers catch up with a small smile on his face. These two were sure to be strong Riders, he just hoped they learned together better than another pair of pupils he had over a hundred years ago.

"_Are you sure it is wise to tempt fate? History tends to repeat itself."_ Glaedr's voice sounded in his mind.

"_They are brothers, and Murtagh doesn't seem to emulate Morzan's crueler tendencies. However, if it becomes direr then it did when Morzan and Brom were young Riders, I will not hesitate to separate them."_ Oromis returned. _"Still, the resemblance is uncanny. You are correct in saying that history does, at least in some aspects, repeat itself."_

Author's Note: Thank you to fAteD lOvE, silver mystic storm, and shurtugal88 for reviewing, and those who put me on your alerts list! I even got a favorite on the first chapter! The support is awesome.

fAteD lOvE, as for Eragon and Arya romance, you'll have to wait until Eragon's out of training to find out. The training, by the way, will be maybe two or three more chapters. After that, Eragon and Murtagh will be out and about heroes of Alagaesia. I imagined the life of a Rider before the Fall as that of a Hero in the Xbox game Fable, if anyone has played it, so a bit of inspiration comes from there.

In addition, once training is over and done with, the main antagonist of this story will be unveiled! Every one's favorite Shade, of course. Or at least, he'll be the antagonist for the greater part of the fic.

I think the next chapter will probably pick up two to three years after this, so I don't have to go through a bunch of stuff people who've read the books already know. Thanks for the support!


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